


The Art of Magecraft: Bonus Chapters

by Themanwithaplan



Category: No Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Family Feels, Fantasy, Gen, Magic, Magical Realism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:02:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22200742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Themanwithaplan/pseuds/Themanwithaplan
Summary: These are add-on chapters for the first book of the Art of Magecraft. It consists of two chapters, focusing on Finn and Edward respectively, and set just after the events of the first book. Enjoy!
Comments: 1





	The Art of Magecraft: Bonus Chapters

  
The first thing Finn noticed, much to his surprise, was how small his place was.

The day before, he received a letter from his parents asking of his well-being in the aftermath of the foreigner's assault on the capital. He responded immediately, writing about how he was okay and they didn’t need to worry, as well as how unbelievably relieved he was they were okay. He also included the fact that he would be coming home to spend some time, seeing as the school was closed for the time being. And thus, with high spirits, he took the first carriage ride out of the capital and to his home. And yet, as he stood reverently in front of the place he called home, the very first thought that came to him was just how small the place was, how small _everything_ seemed.

His thoughts temporarily vanished, however, once he laid eyes on his big sister emerging from the house. Dropping his bag, the both of them rushed at each other almost simultaneously, embracing each other in a way only two siblings that haven’t seen each other in almost six months could.

“Why don’t you come give your old man a hug?” his father announced once he stepped out of the house. Finn almost tackled him to the ground. “We all missed you kiddo.”

He was in the middle of roughing his hair up when another person came out. Finn sobered up slightly upon seeing his mother. Wordlessly, she embraced him long and hard. “You’ve grown so much” she exclaimed as she took a better look at him. Finn blushed. “Aw geez, mom. I haven’t grown that much.” 

Without warning, Claire slapped him hard on the back. “You sure haven’t, pipsqueak” she jabbed amidst Finn's protests. “Claire!” her mother cautioned, then turned her attention back to Finn. “Don’t mind her dear. Oh, you look so thin! How about you go freshen up. I’ll make you your favourite.”

“Really?” Finn chirped.

“No need to smother the boy, now” said his dad. “Let him rest and…” he stopped once he realized his words were falling on deaf ears, as Finn had rushed upstairs while his wife and Claire had gone to the kitchen. He chuckled softly; his household was quite eccentric, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“So the foreign mages really were former teachers?”

“That’s right” Finn replied to his father just before washing down a piece of boiled potatoes with some water. “Well, most of them, actually. They were brought in by the Crown to help with the exams.”

“And instead they tried to lay waste to the whole country” his father completed grimly.

“This is why nobles shouldn’t be involved in mage business” his mom added. “They get in way over their heads, and before you know it, we’re all in danger.” She took another swig of water. “But that’s enough of that. Are you okay? Did anything happen to you during that incident?”

“Relax, mom, I’m okay” he responded, a bit flustered. “I wasn’t actually in the city when it happened. My friends and I spent the whole thing in…uh…” He barely managed to catch himself in time. He wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about that place, especially non-mages.

“Well, in where?” the woman asked, mildly concerned.

“In…in the school grounds.”

For reasons she could not pinpoint, that response didn’t quite sit right with her. Then again, she convinced herself, it was nothing but a minor detail. All that mattered what that in the end her boy was unharmed, so she decided not to press the matter any further.

Besides, Claire never gave her the chance.

“So how’d your journey to fairyland go?” she blurted almost as soon as Finn finished speaking. “Was it epic?”

“Oh yeah” their father added nonchalantly. “You never did tell us how that went.”

The sudden query caught him off guard at first, but he quickly caught on. “Was it!?” he chirped. “You should have seen it! It was awesome! I learned a whole bunch of new stuff. Like, it turns out Fairy Folk don’t actually live in the Black Forest. They live in a completely different dimension called Arcadia.”

“You serious?” said his dad, genuinely interested in the conversation. Finn nodded in response. “We saw all sorts of things, too! There are so many types of Fairies like Elves and Dwarves and Sprites and what have you. I even saw unicorns!”

“You saw a unicorn?” said a truly shocked Claire. Even their parents were surprised as well.

“Not a unicorn” Finn corrected. “ _Unicorns_. A whole herd of them. It turns out they're a whole bunch of them in Arcadia.”

“I’ve heard that they’re attracted to purity” his father added. “If that's the case, this Arcadia must be a pretty great place. A far cry from what I’ve heard about the Fair Folk.” He said that last sentence in a slightly lower tone.

But Finn wasn’t done yet. “Things weren’t always so great, though. While we were there, some mages from Midlim attacked. They were trying to kidnap some Fairies!”

That statement gave their parents slight pause. They both knew of Midlim, as well as its unsavory history and relationship with Antheusa. “Mages from Midlim, you say?” his father iterated.

“Y-Yeah” Finn responded, sensing his parent’s discomfort with that revelation. “But don’t worry, we were okay. Lee was with us. He was able to beat the enemy leader and force all them to leave.”

“Hold on, Lee?” his mother interrupted, and Finn saw that they were even more distressed. “You mean,” she lowered her voice, almost as if she was saying something forbidden. “Lee, the mad scientist?”

It took some time for him to realize why they reacted that way. Thanks to Anna, Finn knew of the unsettling rumours that surrounded Lee, but as someone who had actually spent time around him, he knew for a fact that the vast majority of those rumours were just that. And for some reason, he subconsciously expected his parents to know that as well. “Uh, okay, I know what you might have heard about him, but believe me when I say that he’s actually a pretty good guy.”

For what seemed like an uncomfortable eternity, nobody said anything. Then his father cleared his throat. “Well, I believe we’re all done. Let’s do the dishes.” They all agreed, followed by Claire challenging Finn to a game of rock-paper-scissors to determine who was stuck with the pots. He chuckled silently. He knew the cheeky little lad he raised, and in many ways, he was still that lad. But something had changed in him, without a doubt, and he wasn’t sure whether to be happy or worried about it.

Later that evening, while Claire and her mother headed out to buy some things, Finn, having long since changed into more appropriate helped his father harvest carrots from the field. It brought back a whole lot of memories for him, including a particularly ugly one when he accidentally destroyed a bunch of carrots, which earned him a harsh scolding from both his parents. This particular harvest was, unfortunately, a bittersweet experience for him. On one hand, he was able to spend some alone time with his dad. On the other hand, he and his dad had gotten two basketfuls of carrots; less than half of what they usually produced.

“There we go” the man grunted as he and Finn heaved the last basket into the oxcart. He gave a loud sigh. “I must be getting old, huh?” He chuckled after that, and the fact that Finn didn’t join in gave him concern.

Finn stared morosely at the cart. “This is less than half of the usual.” The man grimaced; he was, of course, referring to the disappointing yield. Finn forced a smile. “I mean, when you wrote to me that the harvest was bad, I didn’t think it would be this bad.”

The man scratched his head. “Well, the wheat fared better…but yeah, this year was pretty bad.” Taking a deep breath, he placed a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “Look, we’ve had bad years before, and we’ve lived through it. I’m sure things will pick up next year.”

“Yeah, I guess” he replied with a sigh. “Alright” his father replied, getting on the cart's driver’s seat. Finn followed suit, getting on the cart. As Finn swayed with the cart as it moved towards the barn, all he could think about was how much his family had to suffer simply to get by. His desire to improve his situation had been with him for a long time, largely as a byproduct of envy as he saw his neighbours buy nice clothes and cool toys, but it was no longer just about him. That, he reasoned, was why he felt so strongly about it. He wanted to become a mage in order to help his family, but said family was suffering right now, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Or rather, that would be the case, had he not been prepared with a solution.

Much later that day, when everyone else had gone to bed, Finn snuck out to the field. Considering he had spent most of the evening showing off his mage skills to his parents and neighbours, he was surprised that he still had enough energy to wake up this early, and that was a good thing.

Carefully, he removed from his pocket a small vial filled with a special potion. _I should remember to thank Mr. Macross once I get back_ he mused. Then, taking a nearby watering can, he filled it to the brim and added three drops of the potion just as he had been instructed. Then he began the painstaking process of sowing the carrot heads, watering each one with a copious amount of his mixture immediately after. It took him over an hour to finish, leaving him less than four hours of sleep left, and he was truly sleepy afterwards, but it was worth it as far as he was concerned. He couldn’t wait to see the look on their faces when they saw what he had done.

“FIIIIINNNN!”

Finn literally fell off his bed at that shout. “W-What is it, Claire?!” he yelled back. 

“You gotta come see this!”

His curiosity at that sentence was more than enough to erase his grogginess. Changing out of his nightwear, he rushed outside to see just what was so interesting. The first thing he laid eyes on was Claire and his parents staring in horror at the carrot field, and it all became clear.

“Who…who could have done this?” his father muttered. Then Finn came out and stood in front of them. “No guys, it’s okay. I’m the one who planted them.”

Finn could see the bewilderment in their faces once he said that, which was completely understandable. “B-But Finn” his mom began. “The planting season isn’t for months…”

“I know” he interrupted. “The harvest this year was pretty bad, so I decided to help out.” And with that, he reached to the ground and, with much more effort than he expected, yanked out a carrot.

“My God” the man gasped, reflecting how shocked they all were. Even Finn was surprised as he held the pumpkin-sized carrot in his hand. Macross had told him that the crops would literally grow overnight, but he didn’t say anything about making them _gigantic_! 

“Uh, okay” said Finn as he dropped the massive carrot. “So, uh, I used a potion to make it grow this way, though we do have to harvest them right now and sprinkle the ground with another potion so that the field doesn’t become cursed and infertile forever, but that’s besides the point. With this, the harvest's saved! Isn’t that great!?”

Finn’s glee died in his chest once he saw that his people weren’t sharing it. Instead, all he saw was confusion and a hint of fear. “Uh, well, that’s great kiddo” said his father uneasily. “That’s great, really. So, uh, while we’re all here, why don’t we pick those carrots, huh?” he forced a smile.

“Are those things even edible” Claire muttered. No one answered.

At the end of it all, it had taken four baskets to contain all the carrots. Claire went with her father to the marketplace, while Finn and his mother stayed at home. They were both in the process of preparing lunch, so she could clearly see how sad he was.

“Those two won’t be back for a while” she quipped as she chopped radishes. “So we have plenty of time to make them a great lunch. Let’s just hope those carrots of yours don’t scare customers away!”

“Yeah, sure” Finn replied with a half-hearted chuckle.

She sighed, then dropped her knife. “Oh Finn. I know you were trying to help, and we all really appreciate it. It’s just…it was just really jarring for us, you know?”

“All I wanted to do was help” said Finn.

“And I understand that” his mother replied. “I’m sure your father understands that too. It’s just that…” she struggled to find the right words. “All this…magic stuff, it’s a bit…unusual and scary for us. I mean, you just did six months of hard work in one night! It might seem okay to you but for us it feels…oh, I don’t know…invalidating, like we are invalid.”

“But people in the capital use Magic to do everything!” Finn blurted in self defense. “ Their vehicles, their lights, even their chamber pots! They use magical stuff every single day…”

“But that’s them” she interrupted. “We don’t have the same kind of exposure that they do, so there’s no way we’d be okay with the same things that they are.” She exhaled, then placed a hand on her son’s cheek. “Sometimes, when you want to help someone, you have to consider the situation of the person you’re helping. Think about how jarring all this magic was when you first entered the school.”

And that was when it all came together for him. All this while, he was concerned with helping his family, but he never even factored in the feelings and experiences of the people he was trying to help. It was akin to forcing food down a person’s throat. Silently, he berated himself for being so selfish, while realizing just how much his short time in the world of Magecraft had changed him.

“I…I understand, mom” he said. “Thanks.”

“Good” she replied with a smile. “Now how about we finish up here, then you can show me some magic spells, huh.”

Finn smirked. “You know, I could use my magic to boil the water.”

She laughed. “Don’t overdo it, kid.” And Finn laughed too, genuinely this time.


End file.
